Be prepared for a total overshare of pictures here. If you’re a Facebook follower you’ve seen a few of these already (and if you’re not, why are you not following me??!). But a few weeks ago I took Lia out for her 5th birthday photoshoot. This year we went up to Morven Park to visit the manor house. I love the columns and the checkered floor.
Lia of course had no problems posing and having fun. This girl is a riot. While a majority of the outfit was my idea, the cat ear headband was at her insistence – and of course my aviators (she had her own but preferred mine)
Photogramom in me had a vision for this shoot and the socks were the hardest to place. I could see them in my head but could not find them in any store locally. I even searched Amazon and could not find it. I was almost ready to give up and I happened to try a different Target store and found these guys on the clearance rack! Score! My mom says she looks like Lydia from Beetlejuice. I suppose I can see that…the stripped socks and the fluffy skirt give a Lydia-esq vibe:)
I’ve talked about Morven Park in the past I think. It’s such a great place to photograph. They have a HUGE variety of options for photograph backdrops. For my maternity clients I often use their gardens. For this shoot however we ventured up to the manor house and hung out on the front steps. The view from there is spectacular – across all of Loudoun County. It’s really a great place to be a family and child photographer.
The princess mostly cooperates but sometimes, well, the photograph below says it all. There was probably 2 min between these shots. Who knows why she was making that face at me but I do know we were able to redirect her and get back to smiles. The fact that I’m a mom makes such a huge difference when working with my younger clients. Especially a mom with two kids who are very mercurial.
Lia and I have done a birthday shoot pretty much every year since her first. I really look forward to them each year. She’s always great about going out with me when I have a crazy idea but these milestone shoots are extra special. This has become our “thing”. Bonding time for me and my little girl.
After we were done at Morven, we stopped for a bite to eat and then took to the streets of Leesburg looking for a brick wall (again, to complete my vision). We walked up and down the streets of old town and happened upon this wall. It was perfect!! Exactly what I was looking for.
In fact, I wasn’t the only person that thought this area was a great spot. There was another family in their with their little one shooting against the wall (with their iPhone:) ). We joked about my camera (I had a fairly sizable lens on at the moment) vs. their iPhone. Their daughter was the same age as Lia. They even ended up doing a little ballet together. I was such a really fun interaction.
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